OK, the poll wasn't unanimous, but close enough... The few who voted "no"; your votes count as well - if this doesn't interest you please don't waste your time reading it...

I hope this may be interesting to the rest, and different to the new workshop, because this time I'm starting with bare earth, and trying to achieve something different.

The purpose of this building is to house my 19hp Shanks hot bulb, and anything else I can think of - it's not going to be huge!

The Shanks weighs about 3 tonnes, so (on advice) probably wants about 6 tonnes of concrete attached to it. I plan to build a 24' x 12' shed, which theoretically is big enough to get one more largish engine in. I also want the shed to be "flat floor" in case anything changes. This means that the concrete needs to be deep enough to drop some good solid resin anchors into. I'd also like to be able to use my gantry...

All of these things add up to the following:

24' x 12', less than 3m high, "non-permanent" construction.

Concrete at least 8" thick (thicker round the edge).

Steel beam down the centre

Everything after this I shall make up as I go along - I don't like to plan to far in advance...

The first problem is the base - I'm no longer young and fit enough to dig the foundations and pour the concrete myself, so I've roped in some help.

Using a digger, they made short work of the hole although 3 very large trailers of soil were hauled away. Into the hole has gone about 10 tonnes of hardcore, rolled and then covered with DPM.

Next the hole was prepared for the concrete;

Steel shuttering, and a ramp for the dumper to run in and out.

The big day;

Everything ready, just waiting for the first lorry to arrive.

...and the first load comes off the mixer;

The dumper shifts about 3/4 metre at a time, so quite a few runs are required.

Now the concrete is going in the hole - this is "industrial mix, with fibre"

My friends enjoy paddling!

And finally...

2 lorries and 18 tonnes of concrete later... the slab is down! 2 or 3 hours of floating after this picture was taken, and now it's quite smooth.

The next step is a couple of rows of bricks, but not until the concrete has had time to harden a bit.

One gets the impression that you have been so busy with the camera only your mates have done the work, or were you the foreman :-))
One thought comes to mind, when the B&BSEC put the big crossley gas engine into pitstone museum it had a hole at least three foot dug and filled with reinforcing bar and concrete and then shuttering to about a foot high with the tie down bolts sunk to at least 18 inches, and that was factory spec for the engine.

One thought comes to mind, when the B&BSEC put the big crossley gas engine into pitstone museum it had a hole at least three foot dug and filled with reinforcing bar and concrete and then shuttering to about a foot high with the tie down bolts sunk to at least 18 inches, and that was factory spec for the engine.

Martin P

Apples and Pears Martin - Pitstone's Crossley is 37hp, with one very large flywheel, and it, of necessity, stands over a pit. The Shanks can stand on a flat floor.
My slab is 8" thick at the centre - it's 18" round the edge... The polyester fibre more or less removes the need for rebar.